


Catradora Sounds Better

by magsworld



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Best Friends, F/F, F/M, Forgiveness, Heart-to-Heart, Humor, gossiping, the start of something new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25589296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magsworld/pseuds/magsworld
Summary: After witnessing Adora bring Catra back to life, Bow has got some serious questions. Like, are they really okay with this? And, how can everyone be so forgiving?
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	Catradora Sounds Better

**Author's Note:**

> I love She-Ra.  
> I love Adora & Catra and their relationship in season 5. I really wanted a scene on forgiving Catra for her past mistakes - hope you enjoy <3

Bow watched with wide eyes as Adora carried Catra out of the ship’s control room. When they were completely out of sight, he immediately turned to Glimmer.

“You saw that, right? Tell me your eyes are seeing this too.”

“Shh, Bow!” Glimmer tried to keep a straight face but was failing. “Keep your voice down!”

“They’re in the other room, Glimmer! Adora _carried_ Catra into the other room!”

Glimmer started giggling as Bow just shook his head, eyes still on the door that Adora had _carried_ Catra through. He wanted to say that he couldn’t believe it, but he actually _could_ believe it. Something about this whole situation felt very believable and that was saying a lot considering they had just nearly escaped a clone infested warship. Believable these days, was hard to come by - so, the fact that _this_ was, didn’t sit right.

“We always knew they had a bond,” Glimmer said, voice fond.

“Uh, no,” Bow’s eyes snapped back to her. “We knew they grew up together in the horde.”

“Uh, and that makes it different?” She threw back at him. “You develop a bond with the people you grow up with, Bow.”

He knew she was right. But… Adora and Catra… _together_? He never questioned Adora’s decision to go back and save Catra. It was the right thing to do. They were the good guys, after all. Saving people was their jam. But Catra was with the horde. They were very pointedly _not_ the good guys. And sure, Adora might’ve grown up in the same place as the rest of the horde soldiers, but he didn’t consider her one of them.

Adora had changed. She had become the symbol of the resistance, the key to Etheria’s survival, the freaking SHE-RA, and one of his best friends. The last time they had seen Catra, she had opened a portal that almost destroyed everything. How could Adora forgive that? _How could Glimmer?_

Bow’s brain felt like it was on overdrive, trying to put together bits and pieces of information from their overwhelming gaggle of crazy adventures. What was he missing?

“I mean, I think we always knew they had some weird obsession thing going on with each other,” he thought out loud, “but I thought that was pretty one-sided.”

Glimmer cocked her head to the side. “You mean, on Adora’s part?”

“What? No! On Catra’s!”

“Ugh, this is getting confusing.” Glimmer stretched her legs out, laying back on the ship’s floor. She seemed over this conversation already, but Bow was just getting warmed up. He had to talk this through. He needed answers.

“Catra has literally been after Adora since day one.” He said as he stood up. “I’ve practically lost count on how many times she’s come after us.”

“Yeah, but Adora would always face off with her.” Glimmer answered from the floor. “She was the one chasing _her_ down, Bow. Trying to get her to stop.”

“Yeah – so she wouldn’t kill us.”

“Catra would never kill us!”

Bow paused. He stopped pacing as his eyes met Glimmer’s. “Are… you defending Catra?”

“No, I…” Glimmer ran a hand through her hair and then slowly stood up and walked over to him. Bow crossed his arms over his chest expectantly. He couldn’t wait to hear this. “This might sound weird, but… from the time I spent with Catra aboard Prime’s ship, I started to figure her out. All of her taunting and the whole ‘tough-guy’ façade was just an act.”

Bow lowered his arms. “An act, huh?” Could that be true? Could anyone be _that_ good of an actor?

“Like, you remember how we thought Catra was torturing Entrapta, but she wasn’t? And every time she got to us the goal was to safely capture us. I don’t think she had it in her to actually hurt us. I know she doesn’t show it, but Catra cares a whole lot about other people.”

“Glimmer.” Bow couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Maybe he could believe the ‘tough-guy’ thing was an act, but Catra wasn’t dumb. She knew _exactly_ what she was doing. “When they captured us, they tortured you.”

“That was Shadow Weaver.”

“Yes, but _Catra_ is the one who made that happen.” Bow let out a sigh as he moved closer towards her. “Look, I get what you’re saying – and I mean, on some level I agree with it.”

“You do?” Glimmer looked surprised.

“Yeah, well,” he scratched his head, unsure where he was going with this. “I don’t think anyone who was Adora’s friend could’ve been _all_ that bad, but with this…” he motioned vaguely to everything around them, “she’s got to take responsibility for all that she’s done. I mean, she threw me off cliff, Glimmer!”

Glimmer smiled as she reached out and grabbed his hand. “Because I was there and she knew I would save you.”

“Sure, fine.” Bow smiled despite himself. “But I still want an apology! I think we’re owed that much. And _you_ should want one _too_.”

Glimmer sighed and let go of his hand. Bow watched as she walked forward and gazed out of Darla’s large window panel. As Glimmer’s eyes looked at the universe, Bow looked at the woman who was the center of his. He cared more about Glimmer than he did about almost anything else in the world. Catra had brought pain into that world, and… she still could.

He walked up next to Glimmer and followed her gaze to the stars and cosmos surrounding them. He took a deep breath in and exhaled.

“I want Adora to be happy,” he began. “I trust her judgment. I believe people can change. I just… it takes me a while to get over things. As you know.”

Glimmer looked down as Bow gently nudged her arm.

“I want to be sure that Catra won’t hurt Adora or any of us again. Don’t forget, Glimmer… Catra was the one who opened the portal. The one that… took your mom away.”

Glimmer sucked in a breath as Bow turned to face her. “I haven’t forgotten,” she said, and her voice was so clear and firm that he almost didn’t recognize it. “But I don’t need an apology.” 

“But…” Bow could feel his voice breaking. He reached out, retaking Glimmer’s hand. “How?”

Glimmer breathed in and slowly, let it out. “You weren’t there on Prime’s ship. I… asked her to do one good thing and… she did it.” Glimmer’s eyes started watering, so Bow moved in closer and reached for her other hand. “At the time, I didn’t fully understand what I was asking her to do… lie to Horde Prime? I don’t know. I just wanted her to protect you and Adora. Your lives. At that moment, it was all I cared about. And she did, Bow. She led me to a room where I could be sent back to you guys. She defied Horde Prime knowing full well what the consequences were. Bow, I asked her to do one good thing in her life and she took that to mean give _up_ her life – sacrifice herself to save someone else. To save me, and the people I love most. How could I be mad at her after that?”

Bow was speechless. He stood in awe, enamored by the bravery and vulnerability of his closest friend. All this time he had been holding onto fear and insecurity, while Glimmer’s rock-solid faith and courage had no time for them.

“Also,” Glimmer added, the pink in her eyes blinking away tears. “I was the one that balanced the planet – the one who listened to Light Hope, the one who made the portal possible.” She paused, and Bow’s eyes were now watering more than Glimmer’s. “I can’t blame Catra for my mother’s death, without also blaming myself.”

Bow felt his heart tighten in his chest. He hadn’t thought of that, had never even considered Glimmer might blame herself. “You can’t…” he started, “You didn’t—”

“I know,” she said, cutting him off. “Adora told me about my mom’s final moments – how at peace she was with her decision, how proud she was to fight for Etheria’s people, and save Adora’s life. She’s always been my hero and I miss her every single day, but I know in my heart I will see her again. I am not without my faults. I’ve done plenty of things I’m not proud of – maybe not to the extent of Catra, but… my mom would never want me to carry hate in my heart for anyone, least of all myself. And who knows,” Glimmer’s eyes drifted back towards the window panels. “Maybe all of this was supposed to happen. Now that the final threat is here, we can finally – once and for all – save our planet and I’ll get to teach the future generations of the incredible Queen before me who helped make it happen.”

At once, Bow dropped Glimmer’s hands and threw his arms around her. “You are…” he said, voice shaky, “the strongest person I know, Glimmer.” She hugged him back as full-on tears streaked down his face. “I’m so sorry I was mad at you for so long!”

“Bow,” Glimmer laughed affectionately as she wiped her eyes. “It’s ok, I deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t! Ok, well… maybe a little, but still!” He pulled back, but then upon seeing her face, hugged her again. “Can you forgive me for not forgiving you?”

“Yes, I can forgive you for not forgiving me.” He could almost hear the eye-roll in her laugh. It made him hug her tighter. “Friends are supposed to call each other out when their behavior is unacceptable. I expect nothing less from you.”

Bow pulled back for real this time. He nodded, as a few more tears fell down his face. He was sure he looked miserable, but Glimmer was smiling at him, and that was all he cared about.

“I think I agree with you,” he said.

Glimmer let out a small laugh. “You think?”

“About the Catra thing,” Bow said, wiping his eyes. “You made an excellent point. The stakes couldn’t be higher right now. Everything feels like a life or death scenario.”

“Because it is.”

“ _Right_ ,” he continued, “and… that leaves no time for petty disagreements or grudges. Catra saved your life. It may not nullify all the bad she’s done, but… I’ll harbor no ill will against her. I’m going to follow your lead, Glimmer. I may not trust her right away… but, we’re good. I’ll jump aboard the Catdora ship.”

“Oooo,” Glimmer’s eyes lit up as she clapped her hands together. “That’s a good ship name!”

Bow opened his mouth to say something else but closed it when he saw a force of magenta hair breakthrough one of Darla’s baseboards. Glimmer flinched backward as Entrapta came tumbling out of somewhere deep within their spaceship.

“I prefer Catradora!” Entrapta said as she bounced upright on her hair.

“Entrapta?!” Bow yelled. She had her goggles on but was covered almost completely in dust.

“Hiiii, sorry. I got stuck in one of Darla’s vents and couldn’t help but listen in.”

“Hey, that’s ok,” Glimmer said, touching Bow’s elbow.

Entrapta dusted off the tips of her hair and then started playing with it. Bow noticed she tended to do that when she was nervous. Truthfully, he didn’t mind her listening to their convo. It was annoying, sure… but, Entrapta was their friend. Their friend who they had accidentally left behind… and who had then joined the horde. Scorpia was also their friend now, and Scorpia had been Catra’s right-hand soldier. Bow was starting to realize that the difference between good and bad was a lot more skewed than he originally thought. Your perspective shifts depending on where you stand.

“Glimmer, I think you’re really brave,” Entrapta began.

“Awe – thanks, Entrapta.”

“And I just want to say that Catra was my friend before she sent me to Beast Island.” Entrapta’s eyes lit up and Bow could feel a headache coming on. “But there was incredible tech there! I learned more about this planet and the first ones than ever before.”

Glimmer nudged Bow, bringing him back to focus. “So, you forgave her too, then?”

“Mhmm, but… not on Beast Island. I… I forgave Catra the moment she sent me there.” Bow looked between Glimmer and Entrapta. What was with these women and their vast capacity for forgiveness? “In the end,” Entrapta continued, “she wasn’t a very good friend, but… I could see she had a lot of fear and rage inside her. I, too, am not the best at voicing how I feel. But, I’ve also never been in that kind of pain. I hope maybe now that Catra can get the help she needs.”

Bow was crying again. He felt overwhelmed, emotionally. “I’m surrounded by the strongest women,” he squeaked out..

Entrapta seemed confused. “Does he… do this a lot?”

“It’s more of a recent thing,” Glimmer answered.

Bow thought of how Entrapta always had very nice things to say about Hordak, who up until Horde Prime, had been their number one enemy. Glimmer had joked that Entrapta had a thing for Hordak, but… maybe she did. And… maybe that was okay. _What was that saying?_ ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’? Bow considered it.

He didn’t know much about forgiveness, but he knew it was a freeing feeling. When he forgave Glimmer for not listening to him, he felt infinitely better than he did before. Forgiveness for Catra and Hordak wouldn’t mean condoning their actions. Forgiveness would mean releasing the pain and fear their actions caused from his mind. It would mean letting it go, giving up its power to hurt him.

He could do that. He could _definitely_ do that.

“So,” Bow said, already feeling lighter. “Catradora?”

Glimmer giggled. “Entrapta’s right. That does sound better.”

Just then, Entrapta gasped very loudly and covered her mouth with both hands. “I need to make her a spacesuit!”

Before Bow or Glimmer could say anything else, Entrapta dove headfirst into a pile of scraps in the corner of the room. Glimmer laughed as Bow shook his head.

“Hey,” Glimmer said, a bit softer. “Do you think we should ask Adora about her and Catra?”

“I don’t know,” Bow answered. “It’s probably too soon. She did _just_ save her life.”

“You think we’re jumping the gun? I mean there is a possibility they just have a strong childhood bond and are just going to be friends.”

“Uh,” Bow shot Glimmer a look, and not a second later, they both started laughing.

“You’re right, _obviously_ they’re going to end up together.”

Bow smiled wide. “ _Obviously_.”

“Did you see the way Adora’s whole body lit up when she cradled Catra’s head in her arms?” Glimmer’s eyes were sparkling something magical and Bow could not stop nodding.

“That was THE moment. I felt like we were intruding on something private.”

“The _other_ moment I remember is She-Ra going FULL power after healing Catra and taking down like a fleet of Horde ships.”

Bow paused. “Could that explain why She-Ra’s back?”

Glimmer gasped, almost bigger than Entrapta had. “THAT WOULD BE THE GREATEST LOVE STORY OF ALL TIME!”

Bow chuckled to himself. He kept feeling this need to reach out and pull Glimmer closer towards him, but he didn’t want to be annoying, and they were already standing pretty close together. He was a bit surprised at how easy it was for her to change his mind about everything.

“You know,” he said, “Catra is a really good strategist. Having her on our side could actually be really good for us.” He thought of battle plans, her potential inside knowledge of how the horde operates... 

Glimmer smirked at him.

“What’s that look for?”

“You’re not even _questioning_ if Catra’s going to join us. We literally _just_ saved her and you already know she’s one of us.”

“Ah.” Bow felt a blush creep up his neck as the wind was taken out of his sails. Only Glimmer could do that to him. “You got me there.”

“I saw the way they looked at each other, Bow. I know you did too. That look of relief on both their faces. Catra’s not going to risk losing Adora again.”

It had been more than relief, Bow thought. The way Adora had held Catra was as if she was welcoming her home, and the look on Catra’s face was something so pure he thought he imagined it. “You’re right,” he said simply.

“There’s only one side now,” Glimmer added, raising a triumphant fist in the air. “Us against Prime. With _us_ as victorious.”

This confidence was contagious. Bow kind of loved it. “Naturally,” he said. “I mean… a tech genius, master archer,” he eyed Glimmer, “a brave and magical queen—”

“Don’t forget Wrong Hordak!” Entrapta yelled, which – _wow_ , could she really still hear them?

“Err, yeah…” Bow said, eyes now trained on the moving pile of space scraps. “Wrong Hordak, and…” he turned to Glimmer. “Where was I?”

“About to introduce our army of princesses and the two love birds, I think.”

“Right, thank you!” Bow stood up straight and cleared his throat. “An army of highly trained princesses, including one pirate, and—”

“Is Seahawk really a pirate?" Glimmer said, interrupting him. "Maybe we should just call him a sailor.”

 _What?_ “Well, uh…”

“I mean, has he _stolen_ anything? He really just sets ships on fire. Would we even hang _out_ with pirates? Your dads would not approve.”

“Glimmer!”

“Sorry!” She put her hands up. “Please carry on.”

“One _pirate_ ,” he ignored Glimmer’s eye roll. “And two love birds made up of one crazy magical super being and… an arguably more formidable foe.”

“High compliment.” Glimmer laughed.

Entrapta emerged from the pile of space scrap and started clapping. Bow nodded his thanks.

“Adora’s going to kill us if she finds us talking about this.”

“Yeah, we can stop now.” Bow said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just had to get that all out.”

“It’s ok! I was totally having a freakout too. I just didn’t want to show it.”

“I knew it!” he smiled wide taking another step towards her. The pink in her eyes seemed to sparkle at him some more. “It’s just… so wild to think that after everything they went through they could still have a bond that powerful.”

“Yeah,” Glimmer said, eyes fixated on his. “It really is something.”

“You know..,” Entrapta said, making her way back over to them. “Data shows that a lot of childhood friends end up together.”

Bow coughed as Glimmer seemed to blush and avert her eyes.

“You uh… don’t say.”

Entrapta smiled as she passed the both of them. “Data never lies.” She then opened up a door that Bow didn’t even know existed and yelled, “Wrong Hordak, I need more material! This helmet needs ears!”

Bow chanced it and met Glimmer’s eyes. Her cheeks were rosy pink, almost matching her hair and half of her sparkling eyes. She picked her head up and moved a little closer towards him. The two of them had always been so in sync about everything. He wondered if maybe their hearts were too. Maybe if the craziness could slow down a bit, he could see if Glimmer looked at him the same way they had seen Adora and Catra look at each other...

Perhaps just like Catra, there was more data he needed to consider.


End file.
